Silver Cliche' on the road: Follow the Rio Grande

Evenin' Campers! It's Silver Cliche' here with you again. Writing tonight from a driveway on the outskirts of Del Norte, Colorado. Ok, not just a driveway, Mrs. C's niece's driveway… which is also used by Mrs. C's niece's husband and three of their five kids (the other two serving in the US Army and deserving our thoughts and thanks).

After four enjoyable days and nights in New Mexico, we moved to Colorado today. We will make two swings through Colorado during this trip. This one on the way to the Grand Canyon and the National Parks of Utah started in the south-central part of the state and will end with our exit through the four corners region in three days time. Then we will pass through the state again in about two or two and a half weeks entering in the west-central segment and exiting into Oklahoma as we head home.

Today's trip started and ended on the Rio Grande. Cochiti Lake where we camped for the past three nights near Santa Fe was formed by the damming of the Rio Grande. We saw and crossed the river repeatedly through the day. At points we were in dry valleys where we could sense the flowing river only by the presence of a river of standing cottonwoods that had recently found their leaves for the coming summer. Here in Del Norte the Rio Grande flows through the center of town and its course defines the axis of streets and life.

If the Rio Grande was a constant but mostly unseen force for the day, two other forces of nature ruled our trip: The Sangre de Cristo mountains and altitude… and they came together when I attempted to recreate the “Silver Cliche' Driving Experience” which I first shared with you from the Texas Panhandle. That experience, if you will recall, includes pictures taken out of the left window, windshield and right window while driving. Now, I'm not sure what happened in Texas. Either Mrs. C' was napping when I captured the views I shared with you or she was deeply engaged in Candy Crush. For whatever reason, she did not take notice of the fact that on that day I picked up the Canon and started shooting with my right hand while steering the truck, trailer, dogs, Mrs. C' and myself with the left. I say she didn't notice then because she sure as heck noticed today. “What on earth are you doing?” she asked. Attempting to both divert attention and demonstrate responsibility I replied “What? I'm not texting or anything!”. It was a weak response I admit, but the best I could do on no notice. “Have you lost your mind? You're taking pictures of the dust on the dashboard and bugs on the windshield while driving at over 8,000 feet and 65 miles per hour? Have you lost your mind? Are you suffering from hypoxia or having a mini stroke or something?” I can assure you that where Mrs. C' is concerned I rarely ask myself “I wonder what she meant by that?”. “It so beautiful here” I replied “That I want to share what it's like to drive in the presence of these beautiful snow capped mountains”. I couldn't look at Mrs. C' to gauge her reaction to my statement of justification because I was busy both driving and photographing at that moment. I could, however, feel her reaction because it was burning a hole through the right side of my face. I had clearly lost the argument so I did what any clear thinking husband would do… I continued to take photographs to share with you. After all, I've never seen a “Don't shoot and drive” campaign, have you? And if I had I would have thought they weren't talking about me, they were talking about game hunters. Now that, I thought, would be dangerous!

So, here is today's “Silver Cliche' Driving Experience” with emphasis on the Sangre de Cristo mountains visible through the right window of the trusty Tundra:

To answer your question, I am committed to my art… yes, it was worth it.

But let me backtrack an hour or two earlier in the day… We headed north past Santa Fe and followed US and State routes. In the first hour and a half we climbed from 5,400 feet to 8,500 and we were 20 or 30 miles west of Taos, New Mexico. The temperature dropped as we approached noon and at its low was 42 degrees according to the truck's thermometer. By then we could clearly see the Sangre de Cristo mountains which include the Taos Mountains with peaks up to 13,000' tall. The Sangre de Cristo's are the southenmost subrange of the Rockies and include peaks in Colorado and New Mexico. We stopped for lunch at a wide shoulder section of US 285. Here's what out lunch spot looked like with the Taos Mountains in the distance and lot of high plains all around:

All through the day, the words to the Paul Simon song “Hearts and Bones” kept going through my head:

One and one half wandering Jews

Free to wander wherever they choose

Are traveling together

In the Sangre de Cristo

The Blood of Christ Mountains

Of New Mexico

On the last leg of the journey

They started a long time ago

The arc of a love affair

Rainbows in the high desert air

Mountain passes slipping into stones.

Except for the Jews part, I felt I knew what he was talking about.

And so we drove on. We reached out niece's house about 2:30 after passing through a succession of small Colorado towns. With the Rio Grande always near we saw wheat fields being planted, poverty, historic old sites, a cannabis dispensary, a narrow gauge railroad that seems to still operate and lots of mountains that would be celebrated in song in Florida but probably don't even get a name in Colorado. We were warmly greeted by family, dogs, chickens, goats and a horse.

We had dinner at a local pizza brewpub. Dining in small towns is a hit or miss affair, but a gamble I'm always willing to take (I have a stronger stomach than does Mrs. C' who has been known to say “No way I'm going to eat that and I don't think you should either” just before I dive in.) The Three Barrels was a hit! As an added surprise, we were joined by Mrs. C's sister who has recently moved to Del Norte from South Florida and is probably wondering whether any of the clothes she brought with her will ever be useful here.

After dinner our hosts gave us a driving tour to give a glimpse of how a seemingly small, sleepy town supports human life. The answer is “outdoors”. When viewed through the eyes of us state-road-seeking-out-of-towners, Del Norte is small and sleepy. With the knowledge of locals we saw some amazing sites in under an hour. Let me present them to you without comment, but with thanks to nature and our tour guides: